Weekly News highlights

Talks with Tecom Investments on SmartCity Malta were successfully concluded, the Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology announced on Monday.

After a detailed presentation by IT Minister Austin Gatt, the Cabinet approved the terms of the agreement and authorised the minister to close negotiations and proceed with the completion of the documentation required for parliamentary scrutiny.

The proposed Lm110 million project, earmarked for Ricasoli, was first announced by the government last February.

The ministry said that following the conclusion of the negotiations, the parties will focus on finalising the contractual documentation in the coming days so that it can be submitted to Parliament for discussion and approval.

Customs seize 10 million counterfeit cigarettes

A container with 10 million counterfeit Memphis cigarettes was intercepted by customs officers, the Customs Department said on Monday

The 40-foot container was en route from the Middle East though no details were given about its destination.

Following investigations among enforcement sections, the shipping documents were analysed in detail and it was decided to open the container for inspection. The cigarettes were offloaded and stored.

Woman robbed on way to bank

A woman was stopped and robbed by a hooded man in Church Street, Xewkija, as she was on her way to deposit money in a bank just after 8 a.m. on Monday.

The police said the woman, from the same town, was robbed of a "substantial sum".

Sources said the haul included over Lm2,000 in cash, a number of cheques and the woman's personal belongings.

The police said the robber emerged from a car which stopped next to the woman. He snatched her handbag and was driven off at speed by an accomplice. The woman was not injured.

Charged with robbing woman

Joseph Vassallo, 56, of Mqabba, on Tuesday was charged with stealing €3,550 (about Lm1,500) and Lm375 from an Italian woman at the Oracle Casino earlier this month.

Vassallo pleaded not guilty to stealing the money from the Bugibba casino on January 3.

Antsat director cleared of staging hold-up

On Tuesday Carmel Farrugia, 55, of Marsascala, director of Antsat satellite showroom, was cleared of staging a hold-up to defraud his insurance agency after a magistrate ruled that the case had not been proven to the level required by law.

Magistrate Antonio Mizzi cleared Farrugia of fabricating evidence and lodging a false report about an alleged hold-up at the satellite outlet in Msida on January 29, 2002.

He was also cleared of insurance fraud and perjury.

Farrugia had originally been arraigned together with his employee Anthony Farrugia, 44, of Luqa. In June 2003, the employee had been conditionally discharged for three years when he was found guilty of filing a false police report.

Two charged over hospital tender

Noel Xuereb, an investment systems officer at the Ministry of IT and Investment on Wednesday was charged with accepting bribes over the adjudication of a tender for the installation of an IT system at Mater Dei Hospital.

Pierre Mercieca, a part-time employee with Inso, one of the tendering companies, was also charged with bribing Xuereb.

Xuereb, 42, of St Julian's was charged with accepting bribes, embezzlement, taking a private interest in the adjudication of tenders and disclosing professional secrets when he served as a public officer on and before January 14.

Mercieca, 47, of Attard, was charged with bribing Xuereb and with complicity.

Both men pleaded not guilty.

Magistrate Silvio Meli, presiding over the arraignment, turned down both requests. He denied the request for bail on the grounds that there was the fear that the accused would tamper with the evidence. As to the request for a ban on the publication of names, the magistrate felt there was no valid legal reason.

Public officer guilty of fraud

John Micallef, 41, of Zurrieq, a public officer, was handed an 18-month jail term suspended for three years for fraud on Wednesday.

Micallef pleaded not guilty to defrauding Carmel Mangion of Lm350 and misappropriating the money on March 15, 2004.

Magistrate Saviour Demicoli handed down judgment after noting that Micallef had filed an early guilty plea and co-operated with the police.

Interest rates raised

The Central Bank of Malta raised the central intervention rate by 25 basis points to four per cent on Thursday.

The decision was taken by the bank's governor at the end of the Monetary Policy Advisory Council meeting held in the morning.

The governor, Michael Bonello, observed that at their previous levels, official interest rates were no longer adequately supporting the exchange rate peg. The decision to raise the rate was taken against the background of a further decline in the bank's external reserves this month and a marked narrowing of interest rate differentials in favour of the lira, resulting from rising euro area rates.

The council meets again on February 26.

Roads Minister denies giving permit assurances

The Ministry of Urban Development and Roads on Thursday denied that Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett gave any MEPA permit assurances to Carmel Dimech, owner of a vulcaniser and battery service outlet in Zebbug, whose property was partly demolished on Wednesday because it was not covered by a permit.

Neither was assurance given that an application will be filed at MEPA on his behalf by the Malta Transport Authority or the government, the ministry said.

Dimech and his sons clashed with the police on Wednesday when an attempt was made, on behalf of MEPA, to demolish the upper floor of the building in line with an enforcement order.

Dimech and two of his sons were later charged with threatening and assaulting the police.

The ministry was replying to claims made by Dimech's lawyer in an affidavit, namely that Mr Mugliett gave instructions to MEPA officials (at a meeting in May 2005) to regularise Dimech's situation and, in compensation for the expropriation of his property, to ensure that a permit is issued for the upper floor of the outlet.

Russian critical after goalpost incident

A 30-year-old Russian is in critical condition after goalposts fell on him at the Manoel Island football pitch on Thursday at about 11.30 a.m.

The police said the man was on his own at the pitch when he hung onto the crossbar, which toppled.

He was rushed to hospital where he was found to be in critical condition.

Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna appointed a team of court experts to help in an inquiry.

The police are investigating.

Prison visitors detained over drugs

Prison authorities on Friday detained two men in the space of half an hour after drugs were allegedly found in food they were handing to inmates, police sources said.

In both cases, a small amount of drugs, presumed to be heroin, was reportedly found concealed in a longish sachet stuffed in a banana. The sachet was inserted after making a small incision at one end of the banana.

The first arrest took place at about 10 a.m. The drugs were thought to have been destined for a male and a female prisoner.

Drop in tourist arrivals

A four per cent drop in the number of tourist arrivals was registered last year compared to the previous year, the National Statistics Office said on Friday.

Total tourist expenditure decreased by 1.2 per cent despite a three per cent increase in per capita expenditure. Tourists last year spent a total of Lm422.4 million.

The NSO said departures of inbound tourists in 2006 are estimated at 1,124,233, compared to 1,170,610 a year before.

This decrease mainly reflected fewer tourists from the UK, Germany and France. Tourists arriving from Italy, Russia and Denmark are estimated to have increased during the year.

The survey of tourists departing by air indicates a 3.9 per cent drop in total nights spent here last year.

Tourist departures in December are estimated at 46,483 - an increase of 15 per cent over last year.